Certain passenger vehicles are equipped with a rear vehicle storage compartment, commonly known as a trunk. The trunk is closed by a deck lid that is hinged to the vehicle body and swings open to provide access to the storage compartment. Similarly, other vehicles are equipped with a lift gate that allows access to the rear of the vehicle through a gate that is hinged at or near the roof line of a vehicle and opens upward. Other vehicles have sliding doors that run horizontally on a track between an opened and closed position. Each of the deck lid, lift gate or sliding door can be thought of as panels that allow access to the interior of the vehicle compartment. Compartment latches, enable each of these types of panels to be secured and closed.
When it is desired to open these panels, it is known to use a remote unlatch mechanism that releases a detent lever from engagement with a fork bolt, allowing a striker pin to be removed from the catch (or throat) of the fork bolt. Advantageously, the deck lid, lift gate or sliding door will release from the striker pin and bias away from the striker due to shocks, springs, motors etc. incorporated in these panels. However, when the panel does not bias away, the remote unlatch mechanism that causes the detent lever to be released from engagement with the fork bolt is de-energized. As a result, the detent lever risks falling back into engagement with the fork bolt and the panel cannot be opened. When the panel does not automatically bias open upon release of the detent lever from the fork bolt, it would be advantageous to maintain the detent lever in a released position until such time as the panel can be manually opened.
Thus, it is also desirable to provide an apparatus, or feature or method of operation that prevents the latch from operating or being positioned in a configuration that is inconsistent with an intended operation of the latch.